Chapter 473: Fanfiction 24: The Four Great Song Dishes of Kaifeng Prefecture — Short on Money, Short on Leisure

Fanfiction 24: The Four Great Song Dishes of Kaifeng Prefecture — Short on Money, Short on Leisure

Kaifeng City, the Great Song Flavor Restaurant.

"Hey there, you two looking for a meal? Then you've got to come to our 'Great Song Flavor Restaurant'! We serve authentic Song Dynasty recipes." Without any argument, two tourists who looked like students were ushered into the restaurant by the greeter. As soon as they entered, another server enthusiastically welcomed them, "This way, please!"

They sat down, tea was served, and the restaurant gave a very good impression. So the two tourists picked up the menu and looked it over. After a while, indecision set in, and one tourist said to the server, "How about you recommend a couple of the restaurant's signature dishes?"

"Sure thing. Can you two handle spicy food? You can? Great. Well, the first of our Great Song famous dishes has to be 'Stirred Rosy Clouds.' This was an imperial dish of the Song Dynasty..."

"I know this one," one tourist interrupted, "Stirred Rosy Clouds is boiled rabbit meat. They say that during the Song-Jin war, supplies in Kaifeng were tight, so Song Emperor Zhao Jiu often went hunting rabbits himself to supplement his meals, and he invented all sorts of ways to eat rabbit. Braised, steamed... Stirred Rosy Clouds is slicing the rabbit meat extremely thin, then blanching it in broth. They say 'the color is fresh and tender, like the glow of sunset clouds'..."

"Right. That's it—one stir and it's like rosy clouds, so it's called Stirred Rosy Clouds. Want to order one? Our garlic-mash dipping sauce is a specialty."

"Alright, let's have the rabbit hot pot."

"Okay," the server said, tapping a few times on the tablet in their hand. "For the next dish, I recommend 'Swallow Returns to the Nest.' This dish is also said to have been concocted by Song Emperor Zhao Jiu. During the great Song-Jin war, things were truly miserable. People were displaced, villages were desolate, with only crows flying around everywhere. So this emperor led the Imperial Guard to shoot crows everywhere.

First, to supplement the army with a bit of meat, and second, to eliminate a pest."

"Eliminate a pest?"

"Yes. Crows are a scourge too—they only eat carrion and spread diseases everywhere. So shooting and eating crows was about protecting the environment and raising hygiene standards."

"That works?" The two tourists exchanged glances.

"It works, why wouldn't it? That Emperor Zhao Jiu even specially made 'Crow Zhajiang Noodles' to entertain foreign envoys. But now, we've improved the recipe a bit, swapping crow for broiler chicken—they're both birds, right? You see, putting the chicken on top of the noodles, doesn't it look like a bird perched on a nest? So this dish is called Swallow Returns to the Nest. Noodles with hot pot—the flavor is unbeatable. How about I pair this noodle dish with your hot pot?"

"Mm, alright."

"Another famous dish from our restaurant to go with the hot pot is called 'Hold Your Head High.'

Speaking of which, this dish is also connected to a famous figure from the Song-Jin war. At the time, Grand Councilor Zhao Ding..."

"Grand Councilor? Isn't it the Chief Minister of the Department of State Affairs?"

"Oh, it's pretty much the same—the biggest official below the Emperor. Before he made it big, he often went to a small stall by the Bian River to eat sheep skulls. Why? Because he had no money. Sheep skulls and skin were the cheapest things. Later, after he became a high official, he still went to the small stall by the Bian River to eat mutton, but then he no longer ate those cheap scraps—he ate proper lamb chops. So later, that mutton stall stewed lamb chops and sheep scalp together, named it 'Hold Your Head High,' meaning to get a promotion

and get rich. I can see you two have extraordinary bearing—how about ordering a Hold Your Head High to get a good omen? If you don't want stewed mutton, I can bring you some sliced lamb to go with the hot pot—that's good too. So that's settled." The server said this while tapping and swiping on the tablet.

"Huh?" One tourist seemed about to say something, but the other pulled him and whispered, "Forget it, let's just give it a try."

"Oh, right," the server remembered something, "Our restaurant also has a classic famous dish called 'Golden Wu Ceremonial Banner.'"

"What?" The two tourists, both somewhat cultured, were startled at the same time.

"It's the big banner carried when the Emperor goes out. This dish is our restaurant's signature. The chef stacks extremely thin egg crepes layer upon layer. Between each layer, they add sesame oil, scallions, and top-quality yak meat. This is real shredded yak meat, from cattle raised naturally on the high plateau—

high nutrition, high quality..."

Listening to the server's introduction, the two tourists were dumbfounded. "Isn't this just a combination of egg-stuffed pancake and thousand-layer cake? And you call it Golden Wu Ceremonial Banner?"

"You can call it thousand-layer egg pancake if you want, but the ingredients we use are so premium—premium ingredients need premium names. The meat in our pancake is real yak, yak meat! You should know, the Golden Wu Ceremonial Banner, as our restaurant's signature dish, usually sells for 999 a platter. But today, we have a promotion: the four famous dishes—Stirred Rosy Clouds, Swallow Returns to the Nest, Hold Your Head High, and Golden Wu Ceremonial Banner—a whole table for just 888.

You can't go wrong, you can't lose out!"

Startled by the server's suddenly raised voice, the two tourists said sheepishly, "Let us discuss it..."

"Discuss what? How about this—today, if you order this table of four famous dishes, I'll take the liberty of throwing in our restaurant's most popular dessert, 'Snowflake Silver.' You know Snowflake Silver? That's from my ancestors—oh, I forgot to mention, my dad owns this place. My ancestors' surname was Qu..."

"Could it be that Qu Duan, the one who excelled in both civil and military arts and looked down on his peers?" One tourist interrupted the server.

"Exactly. See, the calligraphy and paintings hanging in the restaurant were all personally written by my ancestor. What do you think? Shocking, right?" The server said smugly. "As for this Snowflake Silver, it originated from Song Emperor Zhao Jiu's self-discipline and devotion to duty. Many ministers repeatedly advised him to spend more silver on himself. Zhao Jiu asked back, 'What good is silver? Can you eat it?' Hearing this, my ancestor, Military Governor Qu, remembered reading in some book that eating silver could expel parasites. So once, he mentioned it to Imperial Physician Pan. That Imperial Physician Pan was a top-tier talent—he went back, checked the medical texts, confirmed that small amounts of silver could be eaten, and then, using the ice cream that Imperial Consort Pan had concocted, sprinkled a very small amount of silver flakes on the white ice cream surface. With occasional reflections, it truly sparkled with silver light.

Later, after Zhao Jiu tasted it, he directly named it 'Snowflake Silver,' and it has been passed down to this day..."

"What's there to mention about such bootlicking? If we're talking about it, my ancestors aren't bad either..." One tourist muttered.

"Huh? Who are your ancestors?" The server had good hearing.

"My ancestor was Grand Councilor Zhang..."

"Zhang Jun?" The quick-tongued server interrupted.

"No, Zhang Bangchang..." This tourist surnamed Zhang said a bit sheepishly.

"Oh, that one. And you? What's your surname?" The server then asked

the other tourist.

"My ancestor was the Presented Scholar Lin Qi."

"Oh, a descendant of Lin Jingmo."

"No, another Lin Qi." The voice of the tourist surnamed Lin also grew quiet.

"Alright, no matter what, you two are also from famous families. Since you both have family traditions, I recommend you also order a bottle of Blue Bridge Wind and Moon—that would match your status."

"No, no," the two tourists, Zhang and Lin, were greatly alarmed upon hearing this and repeatedly declined, "We don't have any capacity for alcohol, don't waste it."

"Ah? No?" The server immediately lowered their head and tapped a few times on the tablet. "Then no Blue Bridge Wind and Moon, just the four-dish set meal plus dessert. I'll submit it now." Without caring what the two wanted to say, they directly placed the order.

An hour later, Zhang and Lin came out of the restaurant, looked at each other, and both sighed. "Forget it, let's go to the Sister Song Fish Broth chain and order a boiled fish in chili sauce?"